Make A Change
by LBthebookworm
Summary: Basically what could have happened in the year between season 7 and season 8 that changed the Ninjas' appearances. Chapter 3: Nya gives Jay a haircut. It only seems fair that she get a new one too.
1. Kai

**This idea came to me in programming class. Let me know if you like it or not!**

**...**

Chapter 1: Kai

Kai walked into the empty noodle house, ready for his date with Skylor. He noticed his girlfriend sitting at the counter, her back to him. He smiled, and walked up to her. "Hey, babe." he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She smiled. "Hey."

There was a pile of papers in front of her, boring things like taxes and shipping costs and blah blah blah...

"You almost done?" Kai asked, pressing a kiss to her temple. She smiled. "About five minutes." Skylor removed her reading glasses. "Go ahead and get a cab."

Kai smiled. "Will do." He walked back towards the door, but unfortunately, he didn't see a pair of chopsticks sitting on the floor. He stepped right on them, and slid forward. While he managed to regain his balance, he accidentally hit a nearby tray. It fell forward, and it launched a teapot up into the air. It hit him straight on, splattering him with tea and giving him a small cut.

"Ow!" he yelped. Kai clutched the left side of his face.

Skylor sprung up and ran over to him. "Are you okay?" she asked. Kai moved his hand to her shoulder. "I'm fine." he reassured. His hair had fallen flat, hiding the cut, but Skylor still saw through the lie. "Let me see." she ordered.

Kai blushed. "No."

She scowled at him. "Kai, let me see." she repeated.

Kai sent her a equally scary scowl. "No." When it looked like Skylor was about to tackle him, Kai quickly ran away, not wanting to be on the recieving end of her wrath. She chased after him. They ran in circles around her restaraunt, knocking over tables and chairs, and making a huge mess.

Skylor suddenly stomped her foot, and vines grew out of floor, restraining Kai. He stared, flabbergasted. "When did you get your powers back?"

"When I had to use a little ice to put out a grease fire." she said, marching over to him. She pushed his wet bangs out of his face, and eyed the cut. "Idiot." she muttered. Skylor walked behind the counter, and reached for something Kai couldn't see. She returned with a small first-aid kit.

"Good thing it's not too bad. This thing only has Starfarer band-aids." she said. She pulled out one of the band-aids, and stuck it over the cut. "There we are. Isn't that better?"

Kai just glared at her. "I hate you."

"No you don't." she whispered, leaning in. Kai blushed. "No I don't." he agreed. "But you're still annoying."

Skylor released him from the vines hold. "Could say the same about you." she shot back.

Kai laughed, and leaned down to give her a kiss. But she stopped him. Instead, she cupped his cheek. "What's this?" she asked, running her thumb across a long, thin scar. It stretched from his brow across his cheek, and looked really old.

"It's nothing." Kai said, quickly, using his right hand to cover the scar.

"Kai." she warned.

He wanted to protest, but ended up caving. "It's just an old scar. I've had it since I was twelve."

"And you've been hiding it under cheap makeup this whole time?" there wasn't any venom to her voice, just concern.

"What do you mean 'cheap?'" he asked.

Skylor wiped the rest of the of the makeup off with a dishtowel. "It's not even water-resistant." she observed.

Kai shook his head. "Yes it is, it's just not tea-resistant." Skylor let out a laugh. "Neither is your hair gel."

Kai glanced up, and realized what she was talking about. "Crap!"

Skylor laughed again. "Calm down, I can fix it."

The fire master glared at her. "No way! You'll mess it up!"

Skylor just rolled her eyes. "Either you let me fix it, or we go out with your hair like that." Kai thought over his options. "Fine." he sighed.

The master of Amber pulled him over to the counter, and grabbed her purse. She pulled out a small tube of hair gel and a comb. She began to brush his hair, hoping to tame the mess.

A silence, not really awkward but not really comfortable, decsended on the pair. Skylor attempted to break it. "How'd you get the scar?"

Kai just shrugged. "I was working in my family's forge-"

"You worked in a forge when you were twelve?" Skylor asked, a bit surprised. Kai nodded. "Had to support me and my sister somehow."

Skylor winced, remebering that Kai had raised his sister from the time he was just ten years old.

"And these jerks showed up. Tried to steal some weapons and wouldn't stop harassing Nya." He stop for a second to yelp, feeling his girlfriend tug on his hair. "And I told them to get lost, or I'd call the police. One of them hit me, and he was wearing a ring." Skylor winced. That would've hurt.

"They left after that, but the scar never went away." he finished.

Skylor finished brushing his hair and squirted some gel into her hands. She began to apply it, trying to mimick his spikes. "So why'd you try to hide it?"

Kai shrugged again. "Guess I just thought it looked bad."

Skylor finished up, and looked him dead in the eye. A bright, loving smile broke across her face. "I think it makes you look sexy." she whisped, kissing the scar.

Kai's face turned as red as his gi. He watched as she pulled a compact out of her purse. "What do you think?" she asked, holding it out. Kai peered at his reflection. His hair was parted the opposite way than it usually was and the spikes were thicker and curlier.

It was different, but Kai liked it. He was going to wear it like this more often. "You did a good job, Sky. Thanks."

Skylor grabbed his hand. "No problem. Are you ready to go?" she asked.

Kai nodded, and the two left for a night at the movies.

**...**

**I love both the old looks and the new looks, and I laughed at the joke they made about it. I was perfectly fine with the justification for the changes being "some minor change in the past could alter our appearance without us realizing", but because they look like their old forms in flashbacks, that reasoning doesn't make any sense.**

**So I decided to write about what could have actually happened to change their looks.**


	2. Cole

**I** **have never had this kind of reception from one chapter. Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed!**

**Be warned, this chapter is pretty poorly written, so don't get your hopes up too high.**

**...**

Chapter 2: Cole

Cole released a sigh, and ran his fingers across the large, green scar. It was such an eyesore. A reminder of all that had happened to him.

He had been a ghost. He had _died. _He didn't want to look at this mess anymore.

The master of earth stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. There had to be some way to hide this! He tapped his chin, and thought. Think, think, think.

He absently brushed his hair out his face. He looked in the mirror. Wait a second... that's it! If he grew his hair out, then it would hide the scar. The was about an inch worth of space between his bangs and the scar.

It would take about... two, maybe three months to grow it out long enough.

It was the perfect plan.

But two months later, the former ghost realized how stupid the blind optimism was. It had started with training, as most problems did.

Cole gently pushed the long bangs out of his eyes, and dodged Zane's attack. He tightened his grip on his hammer, and swung around at it.

He blew his hair out of his face. Okay, he'd admit it. Growing out his hair hid the scar, but it was constantly falling in his face! But it covered the scar. It covered the scar. Cole just had to remember that.

All he had to do was make it to dinner without playing with his hair, and he'd be good. Although that was easier said than done. "I know I don't know too much about weapons that require great strength, but I'm certain you need to maintain a better center of gravity in order to properly distribute you're weight. It could make the difference between striking your enemy and falling over."

"Thanks you the advice, tin can." Cole said, mild sarcasm lacing his voice (not that Zane noticed). He looked over to the clock. Half hour to dinner. Perfect.

"Hey, Zane?" the nindroid turned to look at the earth master. "Yes?"

"You think we should go ahead and get started on dinner?" Zane frowned at this suggestion.

"I'm not sure the others would approve of you cooking dinner." he answered.

Cole scowled. His cooking was not that _bad. _"Then let's make potato soup. Hard to mess that up."

Before his metallic friend could protest further, Cole was already dragging him towards the kitchen. He grabbed the biggest pot he could, and filled it with water. "You chop the vegetables, and I'll boil the water. Hard to mess that up, right?"

"Not for you." Zane answered. The two set about their tasks. After a few minutes of discussing the latest Fritz Donegan movie, Zane caught Cole off guard.

"Cole, you were distracted today in training. That's not like you." Zane observed.

Cole sighed, and sat the ladle down. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

Zane walked over to the earth master, and looked at him. Cole seemed to shrink under the nindroid's gaze. But the uncomfortable feeling vanished when Zane wrapped his arms around him.

"It's going to be okay." Zane said. "Everyone has bad days."

Cole smiled, and patted his friends back. "It's fine, Zane."

"I'm not sure that's true." Zane withdrew, and went back to the vegetables. "You've been... off, lately. And you've not eaten any cake."

Cole shrugged off the concern. "My body is a temple. It's about time I started to treat it that way."

Zane paused, and stared at him. "Cole, are you really feeling alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Cole said, taking a taste sip of the soup. "Why wouldn't I be fine?"

This only served to concern his friend even more. "Alright, Cole. I believe you." But the ice master had an ulterior motive. He asked Jay to talk to their friend after dinner.

The lighting master was more than happy to help out. He had noticed how strange Cole had been acting lately, and was eager to help. In fact, all the ninja had noticed Cole's abnormal behavior.

As soon as he had finished his potato soup, he asked, "Cole, can I talk to you?" Cole paused his conversation with Lloyd. "Right now?"

"Yeah!" Jay replied, springing up from the table. He latched onto Cole's arm and dragged him out onto the _Bounty's_ deck. "So, um... what's up?" Jay asked.

Cole gave him a funny look. "I don't know... you're the one who wanted to talk."

Jay let out a nervous laugh. "True. Guess I just wanted to know," he paused, working up his nerve, "Are you okay?"

The earth ninja tensed for a moment, before seeming to relax. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Jay shifted awkwardly, before shrugging. "You've just been acting strange."

"Well, you can relax. I'm fine." Cole assured.

Jay frowned. "I'm not sure that's true." he echoed Zane's words.

Cole glared at him, not even bothering to hide his anger. "I'm fine, Jay. Let it go." he spat, ad tried to walk away. But Jay grabbed onto his arm, and looked him dead in the eye. "Cole, for the love of the First Spinjitsu Master, would you please tell me why you've been pulling away from us?"

"Because I don't belong on this team, Jay!" Cole screamed, all the pent up frustration bursting out. "I died, Jay! Like, actually died. And I was dead for like, three months! If it wasn't for the eclipse, I probably would have faded away."

Jay turned pale for a moment, before sighing. "I understand, Cole, but-"

"No you don't." Cole cut him off. "Why me? Out of everyone who could have been brought back... why me?" That was the bottom line. That's what this was about.

"Have you ever stopped and thought that maybe it's because you deserve it? You've done so much good Cole." Jay put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's about time destiny cut you some slack."

Cole opened his mouth to protest, but Jay shushed him.

"We don't care, Cole. You're not just some reanimated corpse to us." Jay handed him a rubber band. "Now pull back your hair, and wear that scar with pride." he ordered.

Cole stared the band, before grabbing it with shaking hands. He pulled his hair back into a small ponytail at the back at his head. "How does it look?" he asked, flushing for the first time in years.

Jay's entire face broke out in a cheeky grin. "Oh my God."

"What?" Cole asked.

"Have you even looked in the mirror lately?" Jay asked.

Cole frowned, and ran past Jay. He entered the door to the lower deck, and bolted straight to the bathroom. He looked at the mirror, and wow was his hair messy. But the scar... it was gone.

It was actually gone.

It was gone. For the first time in what felt like years, Cole smiled.

**...**

**I think one thing we all can agree on is that Cole is kind of neglected. Like, all the other Ninja have entire seasons revolving around them or their character development, and we do see Cole grow as a character, it's just not as satisfying. My point is Cole should have more screen time.**

**And before anyone asks, no, Cole is not my favorite Ninja. Lil' Nelson is.**


	3. Jay and Nya

Chapter 3: Jay and Nya

Jay stomped into the bedroom, angry look hidden under his hood. Nya looked up from her magazine. "Something wrong?" she asked, concerned. Jay yanked his hood off to reveal his messy, black hair.

Nya's jaw dropped. Soon she was overcome with giggles, chuckles racking her body. "Wha...What happened?" she wheezed out.

"Kai saw the text you sent me." Jay said bluntly. All the color drained Nya's face. "What?"

Jay smiled. "Yeah, I tried to explain it all away, but he saw right through me."

Nya groaned, and wacked him with a pillow. "You shouldn't have let him see your phone!"

"It's not like I wasn't trying to hide it!" Jay defended. "He just snatched out of my hand." Nya shook her head, smile on her face. "It's fine... He'll get over it." she assured. Jay smiled. "Good. I don't need the master of fire angry at me." he said, cupping Nya's cheek. He pulled her, and kissed her. She pushed him back, laughing.

Jay scowled. "My hair isn't that bad."

"It looks pretty ridiculous." she rebutted. Nya ran her hand through the scorched locks. His hair had gotten longer, hadn't it? When was the last time he cut it? An idea suddenly pooped into Nya's head. "I can fix it." she offered, devious smirk making its way across her features.

Jay pulled back. "Nope. Not happening."

"Why not? I cut Kai's hair all the time when we were kids." she explained.

"That's the point."

Nya scowled, but then her face softened, tears brimming in her eyes. "Do you not trust me?"

Jay paled, and shook his head frantically. "No, no, no, no! You can totally fix my hair! I... I ju-just didn't want to bother you." he assured his girlfriend. It took all of Nya's strength not to smirk. "It's okay." she said, patting him on the shoulder. "If we do it right, it shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes."

Except Nya didn't do it right. She didn't stay focused (too busy thinking about possible modifications that could be made to _the Bounty_), and in her distraction, she snipped too much hair off of one side of Jay's head. Then she tried to compensate by snipping more off the other side, but she overcorrected and snipped too much.

Before she even realized what had happened, the two ninja were left with mish-mash of short, long, and messy curls. And the worst part was Jay was trying to comfort Nya over the awful haircut, not the other way around!

"It's not that bad!" Jay had tried to convince her. "And while it might not be the best look, it'll grow back."

Why in Ninjago did Nya ever dump this man?

But she could tell how disappointed he was. It was written clearly across his face. She had to do something to make him feel better. And then, she got an idea. A really bad idea.

She could cut her hair too.

Nya looked in the mirror, knuckles white from gripping the scissors. This was alright. She could do this. It's her boyfriend's feelings, or her hair.

Shouldn't this be an easier choice?

_Okay, just breathe._ Other girls would rather eat dirt than do what she was about to do, but she wasn't like other girls.

Nya raised the blades to her hair with shaky hands, so very, very nervous. But she had to do this, before she lost her nerve. She quickly snipped off a small chunk of hair, and looked in the mirror. It didn't look too bad, right?

She continued with the scissors until her whole head was a mess of uneven strands and choppy bangs. FSM, it looked awful. But it could help make Jay feel better.

It just needed one final touch. She grabbed a silver band, and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. Most of her bangs fell out of it and into her face, but it looked decent enough. Kind of like Pixal's hair.

Nya left the bathroom, and casually walked into the game room. Jay sat there, alone, with his hood on his head, playing some video game Nya couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. "Hey Jay." she said, sitting down beside him. "I'm really sorry abut your hair."

Jay paused the game, and sat the controller down. "Nya, I already told you it's okay..." He trailed off, surprised by the state of her hair.

Then, he started laughing, hysterically. "Are you okay?" Nya asked, suppressing her own giggles. "Yeah," Jay answered, removing his hood to reveal a bright smile.

"You're the best, you know that?" he pressed their foreheads together. "I love you so much."

Nya smiled just as big. "I love you too." she turned her attention back to the game. "So think you could show me how to play?"

Jay rolled his eyes, smile still plastered on his features. This was like the sixth time. He didn't care. The two just sat there together, happy to be together, and know that they had each other.

**...**

**So here's a funny story. I was originally going to do this angsty chapter were Jay gets trapped in a cave for two weeks, which makes his skin get paler, which brings out the freckles, then he dyes his hair to honor his birth father, but Cole's chapter was pretty sad and Zane's and Lloyd's chapters are going to be angsty, so I was like, "we can't have the only funny chapter be Kai's, but what could I do?" So I'm just chilling in my room, scrolling through YouTube, before I noticed a Wu's teas in my recommendation, and I watch it, and it's the one where Kai drinks sereni-tea. After I finish it, I start scrolling through the comments, and I read one where someone said that Kai burned Jay so bad he turned his hair from red to black, so I was struck with inspiration!**

**Then I read a review from Kai's chapter about how they liked that Skylor styled his hair, so I was struck with more inspiration, and I found a way to incorporate Nya's chapter into this one. For her, I was going to do something where she cuts her hair while having a panic attack, but I don't have the skill to write that, so it didn't happen.**

**I do like this version of the story better though, despite how cheesy the ending is. Feel free to give me constructive criticism, I've got a lot to learn, and I always appreciate it when people take time to give me pointers.**


	4. Zane

**I'm not entirely happy with this one, but I couldn't really think of anything else to write.**

**...**

Chapter 4: Zane (and Pixal)

Plenty of things could be said about Zane's titanium appearance, but "freaky metal man" was a phrase that had never been used. Having been used to people gossiping about him and his fellow ninja, words usually didn't bother him.

Except it wasn't a bratty teenager or a skeptical police officer; it was a child.

Zane was good with children. He was several students' favorite teacher, and despite all the mean pranks, there weren't any students who had disliked, unlike Cole. Zane could deal with the brattiness, but fear?

A child, the incarnation of innocence and joy, everything he vowed to protect, afraid of him?

Logically, he knew it wasn't the kid's fault. He just... looked different. Knowing that didn't make him feel any better.

"I can handle it." he told himself.

_"What do you mean?" _a soft voice whispered from a nearby computer screen.

If Zane could blush, he imagined his whole face would be pink. "I didn't mean to disturb you Pixal, I was simply thinking."

"I know when you are lying, Zane."

"And that's why I love you."

Now it was Pixal's turn to blush. How was Zane always so charming? "And I love you, Zane. But please, tell me what's on your mind."

Zane sighed. "I think I just miss my old body. This new one scared someone. And, there aren't many things about this one that are like what my father designed."

"So you think the aesthetics are displeasing?" Pixal inferred. "Because I know of a way to fix that."

"How?"

Pixal pulled a schematic up on a large display. It was of a holographic projector, one that attached to spy droids and could create different disguises. "I know it will not be the same, but it will give you the full appearance of a human."

Zane's metal features stretched into a grin. "You are amazing."

"I know." Pixal said happily.


End file.
